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My Favourite Planet > English > Middle East > Turkey > Ephesus > photo gallery
Ephesus, Turkey Ephesus photo gallery 1 7 of 62
 

The Basilica Stoa on the north side of the Upper Agora, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

The central aisle of the Basilica Stoa on the north side of the Upper Agora.
 
The Upper "State" Agora

Part 4: the Basilica Stoa

The Basilica Stoa (Royal Colonnade) was a 160 metre long, two-storey, marble walkway with three aisles and a wooden roof, which ran east-west from the Upper Gymnasium, along the north side of the Upper Agora, in front of the Bouleuterion and the Prytaneion. As with other stoas in Ephesus and other Greek and Roman cities, its main function was to provide shelter and shade to people walking between buildings. [1]

Built in 11 AD, during the reign of Emperor Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD), it replaced a single-aisled stoa of the Hellenistic period. The building was financed by Gauis Sextilius Pollio, who also paid for a number of other buildings in the city (see the Pollio Monument on gallery page 13).

The stoa was entered from the agora by a flight of four steps along the entire length of the front of a row of 67 Ionic columns (see photo below). The side aisles were 4.72 metres wide and the central aisle was 6.85 metres wide. Statues of Augustus and his wife Livia, shown seated, were placed on a pedestal at the east of the stoa. Fragments of the statues are now in the Ephesus Archaeological Museum in Selçuk. The building was excavated in 1965.
 

Detail of one of the bulls' heads capitals from the Basilica Stoa, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

Detail of one of the bulls' heads capitals from the Basilica Stoa (see below).
 
photos and articles:
© David John
 

See also:

Selçuk

the nearby town

Selçuk
galleries index
 

Selcuk photo gallery 1 - town of Selcuk, Turkey

Selçuk
gallery 1
around town
 

Selcuk photo gallery 2 - Ephesus Archaeological Museum, Turkey

Selçuk
gallery 2
Ephesus
Museum
 

Selcuk photo gallery 3 - Serbian folk dancers in Selcuk, Turkey

Selçuk
gallery 3
Serbian dancers
visit Selçuk
 
 

The Basilica Stoa from the Bouleuterion, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

The west side of the Upper Agora from the Bouleuterion, with the columns of the Basilica Stoa.

See more photos of the stoa from the Bouleuterion on gallery page 9.

In the background, top right, is the row of vaults on the west side of the agora which formed
part of the substructure of the Temple of Domitian and now house the Inscriptions Museum.
 

The stairs up to the Basilica Stoa from the Upper Agora, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

The four stairs up to the front of the Basilica Stoa from the north side of the Upper Agora.

In front of the steps lie parts of ancient buildings. In the background is the Bouleuterion.
 

The wall on the north side of the Basilica Stoa, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

The remains of the wall along the north side of the Basilica Stoa, in front of the Bouleuterion.
 

Ionic column capitals decorated with bulls' heads from the Basilica Stoa, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

Ionic column capitals decorated with bulls' heads, from the central aisle of the Basilica Stoa.

These capitals appear very much like those of conventional Ionic columns (see for example Athens Acropolis gallery page 12) except that a sculpture of a bull's head has been added to the volutes (scrolls) on either side. They are now displayed on top of the remains of the wall in front of Bouleuterion.

One of the better preserved of these capitals can be seen in Ephesus Archaeological Museum in Selçuk (see Selçuk gallery 2, page 3).
 
 

Ionic columns at the east end of the Basilica Stoa, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

Ionic columns and pillars at the east end of the Basilica Stoa,
on the west side of the Upper Gymnasium.
 

Pillars of a building at the east end of Basilica Stoa, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

Pillars of a building at the east end of Basilica Stoa, on the
west side of the Upper Gymnasium (in the background).
   
 

The east end of the Basilica Stoa, Ephesus at My Favourite Planet

The east end of the Basilica Stoa, between the Bouleuterion and the Upper Gymnasium.
 
Basilica Stoa
Ephesus
Notes, references and links
 

1. Greek and Roman stoas

Philostratus (circa 170/172 - 247/250 AD) wrote that the marble colonnade between the Magnesian Gate and the Temple of Artemis was built by the wealthy Sophist Damianus of Ephesus so that "the worshippers need not stay away from the temple in case of rain" (see Selcuk gallery 1, page 4).

The Roman architect Vitruvius (circa 80-70 - after 15 BC), was also concerned that stoas should protect theatre-goers from the rain:

"Behind the scenes [theatre facades] porticos are to be built; to which, in the case of sudden showers, the people may retreat from the theatre, and also sufficiently capacious for the rehearsals of the chorus: such are the porticos of Pompey, of Eumenes at Athens, and of the temple of Bacchus [Dionysus]."

Vitruvius, de Architectura, Book V, Chapter 9, section 1. At Bill Thayer's excellent LacusCurtius website, University of Chicago.

See also:

Athens Acropolis gallery, page 33, on the Stoa of Eumenes, Athens.

Stageira gallery, page 22, on the stoa in the agora of Aristotle's hometown Stageira.
 
Photos, articles and map: © David John,
except where otherwise specified.

Additional photos: © Konstanze Gundudis

All photos and articles are copyright protected.

Images and materials by other authors
have been attributed where applicable.

Please do not use these photos or articles without permission.

If you are interested in using any of the photos for your website,
project or publication, please get in contact.

Higher resolution versions are available on request.

Some of the information and photos in this guide to Ephesus
originally appeared in 2004 on davidjohnberlin.de.
 
 
See also
The Cheshire Cat Blog
photo essays about Turkey:

Istanbul Essentials part 1

Istanbul Essentials part 2

Istanbul Essentials part 3
with video

Ionian Spring part 1

Ionian Spring part 2

Ionian Spring part 3
 
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